mass effect interim
by craig mills
Summary: What happens now to the Saviour of the galaxy and his band of elite aliens. my take on what happens between ME1 and 2.
1. Chapter 1

Mass Effect Interim:

Commander John Shepard sat on the med-bay bed inside the SSV Normandy.

It had been two days since he, along with the Alliance Fifth Fleet, had saved the Citadel Council from the Geth and their master Sovereign.

People were already calling him the Saviour of the Citadel; according to the news that he'd seen earlier in thanks to his Omni-tool.

As he sat there, relaxing from his injuries, he thought over his life.

He was born and raised on Alliance ships, with his mother Hannah Shepard. When he was old enough he had enlisted, following in his mother and father's footsteps. He quickly realised how gifted he was as he rose in the N ranks, until he reached N6 and became one of the best they had trained. Then, he and his team were sent to a human colony: Akuze.

His whole team was killed, leaving him the only survivor.

For months, after he attended many tests to gauge his mental health, with help from his mother and Anderson, he picked himself back up and used the experience to his benefit.

Then the Alliance offered him the chance to join the elite N7 program. With help from Anderson, who quickly became his unofficial mentor, he quickly made a name for himself as one of the best in recent history. That is, apart from Anderson himself.

His crowning achievement was becoming the first human Spectre, and chasing down rogue Spectre Saren Arterius and his army of Geth; preventing them from wiping out all organic life in the Galaxy in conjunction with ancient machines called Reapers.

The Med-bay door hissed open, snapping him out of his thoughts and he opened his eyes to watch as Doctor Chakwas walked towards him, her Omni-tool raised as she waved it over him.

"Well Shepard. How are you feeling?" She asked, not looking at him directly as her attention was focused on her medical Omni-tool.

Shepard nodded, "I'm okay, I guess. I feel out of it, out of the action. I just want to get out of here. No offence." He raised his hands in surrender at the good doctor.

"That's the pain killers in your system. Don't worry Commander, according to your scans, your ribs are healing quickly, although they are still bruised. The cracked and damaged ribs have been repaired by medi-gel. You will still have a limp for a few days as your leg heals. Nothing I can do to help though, it's better to let it heal on its own. As for the facial scars... There's not much I can do about those, I'm afraid they're going to be permanent."

Shepard nodded and flexed his hands into fists, "And what about the tingling in my hands?" He asked, continuing to flex his hands as he watched Chakwas.

"Well, that I don't know. It's something to do with the implants you got in your arms. I could try and contact the doctor who performed the operation on you after Akuze if you like?"

Shepard thought it over before nodding "Yes, please do. So... When can I leave?" He put on his best award winning smile and locked eyes with Chakwas.

"Oh, don't look at me like that young man!"

After a few more moments, Chakwas caved in, "I guess you can leave within the hour."

Shepard nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

While it was nice to relax, he was bored of the same four walls of the med-bay. With the help of Doctor Chakwas, he pulled himself into a sitting position and took deep breaths as pain flared in his chest from his ribs.

"Any pain aside from what you just experienced?" asked Chakwas.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. I can feel a dull ache in my chest."

He watched as Chakwas nodded and went over to a cabinet next to her desk, before she pulled out a bottle of white fluid and a needle.

Upon seeing the needle, he shifted on the bed restlessly. It was the only thing he was afraid of, but he would never admit that to anyone. Only his mother knew of his secret and given any chance she would tease him for it.

He tensed ever so slightly as Chakwas held up his arm and patted it until his vein bulged. Gritting his teeth, he waited and breathed out as the needle cut through his skin and the clear liquid was injected into his bloodstream.

"That should help with the pain for a few hours. I don't have to tell you not to get into a fight, do I young man?"

Before he could reply, the door to the medical bay hissed open and Tali stepped in. She had obviously heard the conversation through her helmets audio pick-ups.

"No you don't doctor. If he does, he'll have me to answer to."

He watched as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned onto her left foot. He could see her suit was a little worse for wear; the normally sleek black had faded and the gold around her neck was chipped and scratched. He looked back at Chakwas, "Tali will make sure I stay out of trouble. Can I go now?" he pleaded with the doctor.

"Well, I do need you to fill out some forms that will go into your continuing growing medical file, but that can wait till later."

He carefully got to his feet and hobbled over to Chakwas. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks for looking out for me mum."

With that, he hobbled as fast as he could out of the room, but not before a bandage hit him on the back of the head.

With a chuckle and Tali's help, he hobbled over to his cabin and pulled a fresh set of Alliance off duty clothes on. While in his cabin, he hit the intercom, "Joker! Any messages?" he asked as he stripped off the white medical T-shirt.

"Oh hey Commander! Yes, actually. The Council would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience. Other than that, Hackett sends his best wishes and Anderson wants to see you."

Shepard nodded, "Ok. Message Anderson and tell him to meet me outside the airlock. Also, message the Council and ask them for a meeting place. I'll be there."

"Yes Commander. And hey, we're all glad you're back up."

With that, Shepard heard the intercom click off and hissed as he bent down to take off the white medical trousers. Two three fingered hands landed on his shoulders and lifted him up.

"Here, let me help Nehya."

Feeling slightly embarrassed, he let Tali strip him off.

He had a quick shower to help freshen himself up. Whilst in the shower room, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror. Three long scars ran across his face. They had started to scab over and were red and inflamed. He stepped under the hot water and hissed as his scars ached in pain.

After the shower, he dried himself off, and with help from Tali, he changed into his clean uniform. His Omni-tool suddenly flashed, and he read a message from the Council.

'Spectre Shepard,

Your pilot told us of your recovery. Please can you meet with us on the bridge near the elevator that takes you to the council chambers; Ambassador Udina will be joining us.

We're all glad you're feeling better.

From, Councillors Tevos, Valern and Sparatus.'

Shepard realised that before this message he never really knew the councillors names. It just never seemed important. He looked up and noticed that Tali had left the room while he had been reading his Omni-tool. He began to hobble to the door, but before he could get within reach, it hissed open and she walked back inside holding a small jet black rod.

"Here. Take this. Chakwas says it's the latest thing: an Omni-crutch."

He activated the rod and an orange pole extended from the end. He leaned heavily on it with a sigh of relief, "Thanks. Come on. Let's go meet Anderson and the Council."

With very little help from Tali, he walked out of his cabin and up the stairs, through the CIC before he reached the airlock. From what he could see, most, if not all, the stations were empty and only Joker sat in the pilots chair. He could see Joker trying to hide a magazine with a rather rude picture of an Asari and what looked like a Turian.

As he reached the airlock he stood between the bridge and the airlock and motioned for Tali to go in first, hoping to use his body to hide Joker. After Tali stepped inside he breathed a sigh of relief and followed after her in the decon chamber. He noticed Tali pull out her shotgun from her back and cock the trigger ready to fire. She glanced at him and he raised a single eyebrow in question.

"What? It's been two days since the attack. Not nearly enough time to search the entire Citadel. Better to be safe than sorry." She said with a human shrug.

Shepard chuckled and stepped through the airlock door as it hissed open. The first thing he noticed was that even in the small corridor leading from the airlock door to the Citadel platform, it was filled with guards: each wore heavy armour and had their assault rifles ready.

A man in a captain's uniform stood at the end of the small corridor. Shepard instantly recognized him as Anderson, and quickened his pace to meet him. Once they were within arm's reach they both embraced each other in a hug.

"Damn son! You nearly gave me a heart attack two days ago. Are you okay? You dropped to the floor once you walked down from the wreckage of Sovereign."

Shepard tried to recall what happened. He had walked down the wreckage with a smile, as he watched his unofficial father figure stand by the love of his life staring wide eyed at him. Before either of them could speak, his energy just left him and he dropped only to wake up two days later.

"Yeah. It was just a tough battle sir, that's all."

He watched as Anderson's face scrunched up, "Sir?! Now listen here! Don't give me any of that 'sir' crap. I thought we left that behind us years ago?"

Shepard chuckled, "Fine Anderson. Do you want to come see what the council has to say?" he asked as he leaned heavily on his Omni-crutch.

"Sure, why not? Let's see what they have to say for themselves."

Together, Anderson and Tali walked past the guards and into the elevator leading to C-Sec headquarters.

He glanced over his shoulder and looked out onto the Citadel arm they were currently docked on. Even now, two days on, he could still see smoke rising into the air and fires were still raging in parts of the wards the emergency crews hadn't got to yet.

The other thing he noticed was the lack of traffic flying to and from the Citadel. Sure, some ships flew about, but they were mostly the Citadel's defence fleet.

He walked into the elevator and watched as the doors to the elevator slammed shut. The annoying elevator music began to play.

He thanked his lucky stars when the elevator dinged and the door hissed open.

He stepped out of the elevator once it reached the lower level, and stepped into what could only be described as a beehive of activity. C-Sec was packed full of both refugees and the Citadel police force made up of Turians, Humans, Salarians and even Krogan mercs running around.

The place was literally chaos.

In the crowd, he could just make out Garrus giving orders to junior officers.

Shepard could see piles of Geth robotic bodies piled up in empty corners surrounded by armed guards. He glanced at Anderson and Tali, "This place sure is busy."

It wasn't meant to be a question but Anderson answered anyway, "Almost straight after the attack, the Council requested anyone able to help try to organise the Citadel. They deputised any able bodies, including some Krogan mercs that happened to be staying on the station, to help search for any Geth hidden around. Admiral Hackett sent every able body from the Fifth Fleet he could, but he took some heavy losses. Eight ships so far that we know of, but there's a lot of junk just floating around out there. And that doesn't include the number of refugees that have nowhere to go."

Shepard closed his eyes for a second mourning the loss of so many lives. Deep down within himself, he hoped the Council was worth it

"And what about the wreckage of Sovereign?"

He watched as Anderson sighed and rubbed his nose, "That, we don't know. So far, the Council has remained tight lipped on that matter. Maybe they don't want to cause any more unrest. I just don't know. Anyway, let's get a move on."

As Shepard started to hobble his way through the crowd he heard a gasp. He noticed the entire crowd had seen him, and almost instantly silence descended on the chaotic headquarters. Everyone stepped out of his way, clearing a path all the way to the elevator that would lead them to the Citadel Presidium.

As Shepard, Tali and Anderson walked down the path, clapping erupted echoing loudly as cheers also erupted. He watched as Tali lowered her head in embarrassment and practically ran the rest of the way, smacking the button on the elevator. He glanced around the room and saw females crying and muttering their thanks; kids stare at him with wide eyes while those that had served in the military saluted him.

Shepard hobbled down the passageway created by the people around him, and walked carefully up the steps to the elevator hissing under his breath with every step as pain shot up and down his leg. As he stepped into the elevator, and the doors finally shut, he could still hear the cheers even enclosed inside the elevator as it groaned and raised into the air; the crowds disappearing as they went through the elevator shaft.

"Well. That was awkward."

Shepard nodded and closed his eyes briefly; a wave of sickness washing over him. The elevator started to slow down and after what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened and they stepped out onto the Presidium.

The normally bright, and clean Presidium was now dark as lights flickered, either damaged or broken. Smoke had stained the once clean walls and small holes showed where bullets had hit the walls.

Some walls were missing. The lack of any metal covers showed all different sorts of wires and other tech related gadgets. What sickened him the most were the piles of bodies lined against the walls with white, blood stained sheets over them.

The air was thick with death, but also hope.

The once crystal clear water running down the centre of the Presidium was now a murky colour and had large chunks of metal sticking out of it. Guards and search parties shouted in the background, and drones with blue cones of light scanned piles of debris for any survivors.

Around them, Asari commando's, Salarians, Humans, Elcor, Volus, Turian and even the odd Batarian and Quarian worked as one unified force. There were no racist comments being thrown at each other.

Spectres organized the search parties, and other such defences. He could identify them by their bulkier armour and prototype weapons, and if that didn't give them away, the emblem sure did.

It gave Shepard a sense of hope for the future. They walked through the Presidium until they reached the bridge. Rocket drones flew around, protecting the three Council members. A squad of different species surrounded them, with their weapons constantly scanning the area; Asari commando's formed biotic barriers around the Council.

As he got closer, he noticed Udina standing in front of them. His white tuxedo was surprisingly clean. He had his hands at the small of his back, as he stood at attention. A turian walked towards him with his Omni-tool raised:

"Hold on there. Please stand still while we confirm your identities."

Shepard and his team waited as the Turian scanned him, then Anderson, and finally Tali.

"Sorry for the inconvenience Spectre. Please go right ahead."

Shepard nodded and stepped towards the three Council members.

He had to swallow down a chuckle at seeing Udina's huge black eye that covered most of the left side of his face. He watched as Tevos nodded at the Asari around her and the biotic barrier disappeared.

Shepard and Anderson stepped besides Udina:

"Ambassador, Captain, Commander Shepard. We have gathered here to recognize the enormous contributions of the Alliance forces in the war against Sovereign and the Geth."

Next to speak, was Valern the Salarian councillor, "Many humans lost their lives in the battle to save the Citadel. Brave and courageous soldiers who willingly gave their lives so that we—the Council—might live."

Shepard watched as the Turian councillor, Sparatus, mandibles shifted to show his slight displeasure, "There is no greater sacrifice, and we share your grief over the loss of so many noble men and women."

"The Council owe you a great personal debt Spectre Shepard. One we can never repay. You saved not just our lives, but the lives of billions from Sovereign and the Reapers."

Shepard nodded at Tevos, but kept his eyes on Sparatus who tried to hide his eye roll with a cough. His attention was taken from the Turian councillor, to the Salarian Valern:

"Spectre Shepard, your heroic and selfless actions serve as a symbol of everything humanity and the Alliance stands for."

Shepard watched again as the Turian councillor spoke. When he did, he could tell he had rehearsed his lines well:

"And though we cannot bring back those valiant soldiers who gave their lives to save ours, we can honour their memories through our actions."

In the corner of his vision, he could see Udina take a small step forward with a smug smile on his bruised face.

Councillor Tevos spoke next, her voice had a tinge of pride in it and her eyes held a glint of admiration:

"Humanity has shown it is ready to stand as a defender and protector of the Galaxy. You have proven you are worthy to join our ranks and serve beside us on the Citadel Council."

Before Shepard or Anderson could speak, Udina jumped in almost as soon as Tevos finished talking, "Councillors, on behalf of humanity and the Alliance, we thank you for this prestigious honour and we humbly accept."

After Udina finished, Shepard could swear he heard 'Asslicker' whispered in an almost silent voice. With a glance at Tevos, who winked at him, he realised she had said it. He coughed and snickered under his breath, and forced himself to calm down as Valern spoke to Udina:

"We will need a list of potential candidates to fill humanity's seat on the council."

He watched as Tevos nodded to him and spoke, "Given all that has happened, I am sure your recommendation will carry a great deal of weight Spectre. Do you support any particular candidate?" He watched as her eyes seemed to look briefly at Anderson who was standing to his left.

Shepard realised what she was trying to do. If Udina was given the seat on the Council, he would only help something that would benefit him and not do what was actually best for the Galaxy and humanity as a whole. With a small smile, he addressed the Council, "We need someone with the courage to stand up for what they believe in, someone like…." He allowed himself a small pause as he glanced at Anderson and then Udina...

"Anderson."

"What?" Anderson said, clearly in shock.

"You can't do this Shepard! Anderson only allows his fists to do the talking! Just look at my face for crying out loud!" Udina roared in anger.

Shepard went to interrupt, but was cut off by Anderson who stood just a little bit taller:

"Only with you Ambassador, only with you."

"Are you sure about this, _Commander?_ The Captain is a soldier, not a politician."

Shepard looked at Udina and allowed himself to finally smile, "I'm not choosing you Udina; we already have enough politicians on the Citadel. The Captain would be perfect for this job."

He watched as anger spread on Udina's face, but before he or Udina could do anything about it, Tevos cut them off.

"I think it's an inspired choice. The Council would welcome him with open arms, should he accept." She said with a small smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

Nearly everyone in the room, including the guards, looked to Anderson. All except Udina, who had balled his fists practically fuming with anger.

"I'm honoured, Councillor. As humanity's representative, I'll do everything in my power to help the Council rebuild."

Shepard decided he had had enough, "Talking about rebuilding is all well and good, but the Reaper's are still out there and I have to find some way to stop them."

With that, he spun on his heel and using his Omni-crutch, hobbled through the guards to where Tali was standing in the background. He could hear Anderson talking to the Council, but he ignored it all for the beautiful Quarian standing with her arms crossed and leaning on her left foot.

When he was within arm's reach, he wrapped his arms around the small of her back, "Come on. Let's go see if any where's open, and get some food."

With that, they walked through the crowds of united aliens and humans, unaware that hidden in the shadows at the far end of the room they were being watched. More specifically, by a woman in a tight white and black skin suit, with boots that went up her thinly muscled legs and ended at the knee.

Her long shoulder length hair blew across her face as a speeder flew past her. She reached up, and removed the yellow eye patch that covered her eyes and hung the two metal ear covers on her belt. She opened her Omni-tool and sent a signal out through a heavily encrypted comm channel.

It was a simple message. One that simply read:

_'Have important news. Will contact you once in a secure location.'_

With that, she got into a speeder that was parked just to the left of her, and activated the controls, setting the auto pilot to take her to the nearest safe house.

* * *

a big massive thank you to ConradVernerN7 for taking the time from his busy exam packed schedule for taking the time and beta reading this chapter and to the rest of you welcome to Mass effect interim please read and review and if you have time check of Conrads Story war in the galaxy.


	2. Chapter 2

Mass Effect Interim.

Shepard and Tali had found a nice secluded spot on the Citadel; around them the ward arm they were on was mostly untouched due to how far away it was from anything of importance, sure if he glanced around he could see smoke damage and the odd Geth riddled with holes, also the windows of the restaurant they were in had been smashed and most of the rooms tables and chairs had been used as makeshift covers perforated and painted with blood of almost every colour.

The restaurant had remained closed; that was until Shepard told the Asari owner who he was, she quickly opened the restaurant and she practically worshipped him and his deeds she didn't even seem to mind that Tali was with him. The Asari treated her with the same level of respect as she gave to Shepard. Glancing back at Tali John was happy to see her with a rather large straw sticking out her helmet as she hummed and made a chewing sound.

The Asari apparently knew how to cook and prepare Quarian food and had made Tali a special meat based food tube which she seemed to be really enjoying if her hums of approval were anything to go by, he looked down at his plate and his half eaten steak, chips and veg. Picking up his knife and fork he went to take a bite but movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and for a split second he could see a thin women wearing a black suit with a hood covering most of her face but when he turned his head the women was gone.

Shaking his head he turned back to his meal and took a bite; sighing at the juicy taste of the steak as he chewed he reached down and picked up his glass of ice cold water taking a healthy swig washing down the contents of his mouth at the same time. The waitress came to the table though her face was a slightly darker shade of purple and she seemed to fiddle with her fingers much the same as Tali did when she was nervous; upon reaching the table she cleared her throat.

"Excuse me Commander Shepard but I was wondering if…" she paused for a second to swallow and muttered something about her being over seven hundred years old and to stop acting like a child "could I get a picture with you?" she asked speaking extremely fast causing her blush to deepen.

Shepard smiled "As long as my sexy Quarian can be in it." He asked absentmindedly before realizing what he said causing both the Asari and Tali to look at him with shock.

"Y-yes o-of course Commander." The Asari said stuttering almost like a child.

With the aid of his Omni-crutch John pulled himself to his feet and hobbled over to the Asari; standing next to her he waved Tali to join him and before she could step next to him he pulled her to him with her back on his chest then he placed his other hand on the Asari's shoulder as she held her Omni-tool up which flashed after five seconds.

Once done the Asari quickly nodded and with a muttered excuse me she quickly disappeared behind the kitchen door; with a grunt he sat back down on his seat. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a strip of tablets; opening them he pulled out two blue tablets and swallowed them quickly grimacing at the bitter taste.

"Are you okay?" Tali asked looking at him from across the table.

He nodded and gave her his best smile "Sure just needed to take my pain killers don't want Chakwas on my case do I?" he mused with a slight chuckle before picking up his utensils and eating his meal again all the while he watched as a sign on the door switched on in orange; the words Frankie's and bennies reflected of his glass.

Xxx

Garrus was stressed and wanted nothing more than to crawl and hide away from all the people either asking for his help or asking him about the famous Commander Shepard, what made him chuckle was the kids even though they were dirty and tired they ran around play acting as Shepard using their fingers as pretend guns they always made Shepard out to be some sort of god.

Garrus could see why: he had seen Shepard in action how unstoppable he was when he was fixed on a certain goal, but he could also see that the choices he made weighted heavily on him even though he was very good at hiding that fact. How Shepard had survived Akuze was beyond Garrus; the Thresher Maws were considered the ultimate predator by some Krogan. He looked around C-sec's main floor at the piles of Geth in one corner and the sheer chaos of the hundreds of homeless people around him, it was a poor sight, the air was thick with smoke from the still burning parts of the Citadel and he could smell blood in the air.

A stomping sound came from behind him and he turned to see Wrex walking out one of the many elevators, he was dragging a pile of Geth behind him which had huge smoking holes on their chests, and if he looked closely at the huge Krogan Garrus could see orange blood that had dried on his black and red Colossus Armour.

"Found a few strays hiding among some crates near Flux took them out."

Garrus nodded "Thanks Wrex, reports are still coming in from all over the station C-sec has no idea how many Geth are still aboard and the council seems to be keeping all the SPECTRE'S to themselves." He shook his head "It's unreal just when we need them the most, the supposedly elite of the Galaxy are on guard duty." He heard Wrex chuckle and looked over to him which caused Wrex's smile to split on his heavily scarred face.

"So Turian what you standing here for? Let's go and have some fun show the SPECTRE'S what we can do."

Garrus watched as Wrex dumped the Geth bodies on the ground and pulled his huge shotgun off his back and once it expended in his hands cocked the trigger, Garrus smiled and pulled his sniper rifle off his back.

"You bringing that to a fire fight, no wonder you Turian's lost against the humans." Wrex said with a chuckle as they both stepped towards the elevator.

Xxx

Shepard and Tali were walking back to the Normandy; Shepard didn't want to admit it but he was hurting and the tingling in his hands was becoming a problem, it was like tiny spikes of electricity shooting through his arms causing him to gasp when he touched anything, he walked through the corridors in a haze every were he turned people cheered him or asked him for autographs.

At first it was kind of fun but after the tenth autograph it got boring and extremely tedious. Thankfully Tali could read his body language and had basically told anyone who came towards him and asked his name she would quickly step forward and raise her Omni-tool and make a very graphic threat about Hanar and Elcor pornography which at first made him laugh so much it actually hurt.

Together they made it to the Normandy and for a few minutes they both just stood overlooking the ship in the dock; the hull was not as shiny as it had been, there was evidence of rockets and torpedo damage on the hull, and small black marks marked the otherwise pristine hull. The sound of his Omni-tool receiving a message chimed as the two gazed upon the ship. Raising his hand that had the Omni-tool band on he read the message with a growing smile "Hey Tali ever been on vacation?" he asked as he lowered his arm causing his Omni-tool to de-activate.

"No isn't that some sort of human holiday?"

He watched as she turned to him placing her right hand on her hip and cocking her left hip "Yeah it is Alliance Command is allowing everyone on the Normandy a week long holiday, now I'm not sure how that's going to fit in with my SPECTRE duties but if they say its ok we pick a planet and go." John watched Tali nod then turned to look back at the Normandy.

"Such a beautiful ship every time I'm working in the engine room I seem to learn something new, it's amazing how advanced the Normandy truly is the Migrant fleet would love something like this."

Shepard leaned on his crutch and smiled as an idea popped into his head "Then take it back as a second pilgrimage gift." He watched as Tali stiffened and looked at him with completely wide eyes before they narrowed as she finally got the joke.

"You Bosh'tet." She muttered angrily and shoved him in the shoulder lightly.

Shepard chuckled "I would give it to you if I could Tali now let's go inside and I can contact the council and see if they will let me have time off." Pushing himself off the railing Shepard hobbled to the airlock with a grimace, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as the beams of light sterilized the inside of the airlock before the door opened into the Normandy CIC; Joker was as usual sitting in the pilot seat, and by the look on his face he was concentrating on the Omni-magazine in front of him, upon closer inspection Shepard could see it was a picture of the Normandy and that Joker was muttering how sexy it looked and that if it was women he would be one lucky man.

Ignoring Joker and his weird obsessions Shepard walked down the CIC, past the Galaxy map, and entered the comm room and activated the council's private comm channel. He waited for a few minutes before the images of the three councillors illuminated the wall.

"Ah SPECTRE Shepard what can we do for you?" asked Tevos with a polite but forced smile.

Shepard smiled as well "Councillors the Alliance has given me a week of leave to recover from my injuries I won't accept it if it conflicts with my duties as a SPECTRE." He watched as the councillors looked at each other and nodded before Tevos spoke again.

"That would be an excellent idea Shepard take as long as you need for now all SPECTRE missions are on hold until we are 100% certain that the Geth left no hidden surprises. We will add a substantial amount of Credits to you and your crews credit chits to do with as you please, also when you get back this council is buying you a new set of arms and armour."

With that the images flickered then disappeared Shepard smiled and then turned to Tali "Let's gather the crew and then we can pick a planet." He sent the message out to all the crews it would take about an hour for all the crew to assemble so he decided to go take a shower and freshen up.

Once he was alone in his cabin he stripped off and looked at himself in the mirror for a few minutes; his entire body spoke of a man that had seen battle, scars littered his entire body, some were small others covered the entire length of his right shoulder and back, but the worst though were the still raw and fresh three scars running down his face.

The blood had crusted and made the scars look inflamed and slightly itchy, if he was being honest with himself he was tired and felt run down he wasn't physically tired it was more of deep seated bone weariness; he was the lone survivor of Akuze the first human SPECTRE and now the saviour of the Citadel. When people spoke of him it was as if he were an unstoppable force. One willing to do what's necessary; they didn't see the man behind the titles, they didn't see what those choices did to him, how hollow inside he felt…shaking away his thoughts he turned on the water to the shower and stepped into the boiling hot water.

Xxx

The room was illuminated by red and blue from the nearby star, the polished black floor gleamed in the extremely dim lighting, a single chair stood in the centre of the entire room, numerous workers in uniforms of white and gold worked on the floor directly behind the chair where a man sat with glowing blue eyes as they installed his new device.

He watched as they carefully installed all the critical and expensive parts that made up his new quantum entanglement device, if all went to plan he would be able to communicate with his projects across the galaxy in real time with no delays or interruptions and most importantly completely private and un-hackable.

The terminal on his arm rest beeped and he glanced at the message with a growing smile his newest agent Kei Leng was going through his physicals with ease, the subject had been shot in both legs by Captain Anderson when Cerberus's agents had finally found Kei Leng the damage to his legs was not fixable if it had happened 30 years ago the doctors would of cut both legs off but the Illusive Man had poured millions of credits into building synthetic legs.

The operation had been a complete success but it was another story getting the brain to accept the signals from the synthetic legs and as such Kei Leng had been through every physical the doctors could think up but soon his asset would be available, once he was cleared he could be sent on critical mission's that would further humanities stance in the galaxy.

The Illusive Man reached down and took a gulp of the ice cool whisky in the glass and placed it back in the holder on his chair, for the first time in a long while he was truly happy thanks to Commander Shepard. Humanity now had an even larger stake in the galaxy and even had its own seat on the council. Sighing in contemplation his thoughts turned to Commander Shepard; he might out right attack his agents and deny his help but if he used his contacts in the Alliance parliament he could get Shepard more funding and resources to help combat his fight with the Reapers.

On that thought he opened up an encrypted message and typed in the message he sent it away a reply was almost immediate his agent in the Alliance was willing to try pulling a few favours and got Shepard almost three times the funding he would off without his help. Satisfied he glanced back at the team on the floor as they placed a thick rubber protective covering over the device and watched as two blue glowing lights lit up, the device hummed with power. He watched from his seat as the team packed up their tools and with bowed heads left the room once alone he opened his terminals and brought up all the information on the six projects he had running and read through the constant information being sent to him about any breakthroughs or advances his projects yielded.

Xxx

John Shepard stepped out his cabin wearing civilian clothing it had been just over an hour since he had informed every ground team and ship worker that they had to meet at the Normandy whenever they had finished whatever business they had on the Citadel, he adjusted the black jacket around his waist and put his hands in the pockets of his black combat pants under his jacket he was wearing a simple black T-shirt, he hobbled his way through the mess hall and rounded the corner and stepped into the elevator and hit the button that would take him to the cargo hold.

After an agonizing few seconds which felt like minutes in the really slow elevator he stepped out to find the cargo bay full off all the crew, some were mingling between each other others were listening to Garrus as he talked about the battle between Shepard and the husk Saren, upon stepping out the elevator the gun requisition officer jumped down from his perch and shouted out.

"Commander on deck." After the shout everyone alliance officer jumped to stand at attention and saluted him.

He stopped and leaned on his left leg and folded his hands across his chest he tried to hide his pain from the crew as best he could and looked over the alliance officers with a raised eyebrow watching them sweat before chuckling "Knock that shit off." He said and watched them breathe a sigh of relief before he continued "Alliance HQ has given everyone a weeklong vacation so any who would like to stay on the Citadel you have three hours to leave don't worry I won't think any less of you, those that would like to stay well the galaxy is the limit, any suggestions anyone?" he asked and scanned the room before Kaiden stepped forward.

"What about Terra Nova Shepard." Kaiden paused briefly to open his Omni-tool before an orange planet spun just above his wrist "Says here this time of year weather conditions can reach about 56 Celsius."

Shepard watched as the rest of the crew nodded before he looked to his ground team "That ok with you guys." They to nodded before Shepard himself nodded and then looked at the ceiling "Joker you hear that?" he asked to which he got a surprised sigh over the comm.

"How the hell... you know what I don't want to know, yes commander Terra Nova it is once underway should be a few hours before we arrive."

Shepard was walking towards Tali who was leaning against the MAKO's huge tire "That's fine Joker let me know when we arrive." He ignored Jokers reply as he focused on the Quarian in front of him "So Tali you ever been on a beach before or even swimming?" he asked as he leaned next to her with their hips and elbows touching.

"N-no John I haven't." she whispered to him as she leaned into his arm slightly.

He leaned in as well not caring about the crew around him as he placed his chin on the top of her helmet and slid his arm around her waist to pull her closer earning a gasp of surprise from Tali "Good because I plan to take you there." He said earning a hum of approval from Tali as they both looked around the cargo bay content in each other's arms and the crowd's noise around them.

Xxx

As the Illusive Man was going over his various projects he was alerted to the Normandy about to leave dry-dock; their destination being Terra Nova. A little shore leave Commander? Perhaps this would be the perfect time to recruit you to our cause he thought with a small smile.

He hit a button on his chair and a man's voice echoed across the dark room.

"Yes Sir how can I help?"

"Contact Miranda and ask her to contact me as soon as possible." With that he cut the comm and stared at the star glowing blue and red outside.

Xxx

Miranda was stood working on a terminal inside the lab of one of the many Cerberus building Cerberus secretly owned the cover was for a company that helped advance human colonies in medical and technical advances, she glanced around the room at the white pristine walls as numerous workers went about their business or chatted about their particular research.

A man wearing a white lab coat with gold embroidery walked towards her with slightly narrowed eyes, to them she was nothing more than their bosses daughter on a work experience course, once he reached her he spoke in a casual tone.

"Miss Valentine your father would like you to contact him as soon as possible, you can use communication room 3 if you like." With that the man spun on his heels and left.

Miranda or as the people around her knew her Miss Valentine left the lab and walked through the white pristine corridors ignoring the males as they glanced at her body, thanks to her father Miranda had a perfect body and she knew it along with increased intelligence and longer life span than the average human she could be called perfect.

Finally she reached the comm room and placed her hand on the disguised wall scanner besides the door, as the scanner scanned her hand she looked at the door it was disguised as a simple storage room that no one would really bother with.

The door hissed open and she quickly stepped into the room before the door closed, inside the room was dark barely enough room for more than twenty people, in the centre of the room was a rubber circle that had two glowing LED strips, stepping on the rubber pad she felt as it hummed before a tickling sensation went from her feet to her head as a wall of orange holographic particles rose from the pad.

Xxx

The illusive man heard the QEC behind him power up and he turned as an image of his best operative winked into existence as per usual she was wearing her usual skin tight uniform that left next to nothing to the imagination, he rose from his seat and stepped towards her image "Miranda we have just heard Commander Shepard is heading towards Terra Nova to recuperate from his injuries what assists do we have there." He watched as Miranda placed a hand on her hip and leaned on her left leg.

"We have a covert surveillance base outside the main city, with a team of operatives I could be on site in a few hours."

The illusive man nodded "Good take operative Taylor with you and watch Shepard until further notice, I will come up with a plan to get Shepard to join our side until then I want simple surveillance." He walked back to his seat and sat down taking a drink from the ice cold whisky "Do not fail me on this Miranda we need to tread carefully I have already laid the groundwork."

"Understood Sir I will contact you once I'm planet side."

As Miranda's image winked out the Illusive Man returned to staring at his projects that would advance humanities dominance over other species in the galaxy, he knew from experience aliens couldn't be trusted and would shoot them in the back given the chance.

His thoughts turned to Commander Shepard's warnings about the Reapers none would ever acknowledge it, but Cerberus would.

* * *

sorry for the late update my girlfriend has given birth to a healthy 9 pound baby girl so been extremely busy looking after them both. when I have had time I have replayed both ME2 and 3 to me the illusive man seems like two different people in the two games so through out my mass effect hell be like he is in ME 3 slightly evil and crazy except when he's talking to certain people then hell hide that evil as best he can.

anyway please review and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to message me thanks again as I say nearly every chapter lately please read war in the galaxy by ConradVernerN7 its simply amazing also check out my friend kill-phil hes planning on writing his own ME story and is slightly scared I think a polls on his profile page if he should do it please say yes there isn't enough tali and shepard stories out there.


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